Well, I think we’ve all been waiting for 2021 more than we ever thought we would. Not like our problems will all of a sudden disappear with the change fo the New Year, but there seems to be a hope for better days, because, well, 2020 was a bit of a b*%^h.
We’ve lost icons, hundreds of thousands of loved one, jobs, businesses, and whatever semblance of unity we had. We have fought for our lives, jobs, beliefs and justice. People stood up for their beliefs, and some sat silent. We added “zoom” to our everyday vernacular like it is a living being. And things will likely never be the same.
And I’m not saying we’ll wear masks forever or that it’s a bad thing. Certain things have been discussed and brought up that have been silent or stagnant for far too long. The state of our country and its treatment of all its people had to look at itself in the mirror, and it was found to be unjust. I think this year taught a lot of people about their place in this country and their innate privileges. It also showed us that in some cases, no matter what is said or proven, some people just won’t listen.
I’m not gonna lie, I’ve broken down so many times this year it’s hard to count. And I’ve been extremely lucky. My husband and my livelihood has not changed, and our health has been steady. But I think a lot of people felt helpless this year, maybe angry, and just overall emotional about everything throughout the last 12 months. But maybe it’s my ignorant hope that we only take the positive things into the New Year with us: the lessons, the priorities. I truly hope that when everything goes back “to normal” that we won’t revert back and forget; forget about how important our time is with our families, how fragile our time is.
Well, maybe we can forget the TikTok dances. That would actually be great.
On a different note I think that there are certain resourceful people out there who used this time to find new talents, maybe learn a new skill or simply just use their time in a different way! I was lucky enough that I had the time to do that seeing it was just me and Jon in the house, but after a few weeks of sitting in quarantine I realized I needed to get up. Doing the same thing over and over (and by the ‘same thing’, I mean nothing) wasn’t the answer for me. I actually thoroughly enjoyed getting into DIY projects this past Summer! I never knew I could love it so much and probably never would have tried had I not been sequestered to the house. I also used my time to take online courses at NYSID. That’s something that we forget sometimes, we have access to so much information and there is so much to learn!! You can do basically anything from home, even if you don’t get to go out for a drink afterwards.
Unfortunately I do think that there are some people who are waking up today, January 1st, a bit discouraged. I think a lot of people have been saying, “in the new year…”, “starting January 1st…”, and here we are! Now for the follow-through. Now I’m not one to put down the Jan 1 outlook or New Year’s Resolutions at all! I think that it has a lot of prospect, as long as there’s follow-through. Which is true of any goal! We can say the goal out loud all we want, but that won’t make it come true.
Just like we can hope that all of this ends in 2021 and soon, but that won’t manifest out of thin air. So if you don’t like the way that you spent your time in the Fall, or if you did have hopes for the beginning of the New Year, well let’s get to it! You’ve got this! You can make a change. You can find a new hobby. You can read all of those books that have been sitting on your nightstand since 2014 😀 I’m actually looking forward to continuing all these new loves that I have found; reading more, more DIY projects, and continuing to take online courses!
I think that we all have a lot to look forward to in 2021, most of all hope; hope that this all might go away, that we all might be able to hug soon, that we will get to a point that this chapter just be a memory. I, personally, am going to hold onto that hope while trying to manage this beast of a situation as best I can. And yes, that will likely include more IKEA hack DIY projects 😀
So cheers to 2021! Cheers to the New Year! Cheers to hope.
